Frustrated and powerless
DANNY RUBINSTEIN
Ha'aretz, 20 August 2003
Palestinian spokesmen said last night that everyone had expected a revenge attack by Islamic Jihad following Israel's killing of senior Jihad operative Mohammed Sidr last week - but now that the attack has come, and proved so deadly, they fear that it will mark the end of the cease-fire (hudna) and of attempts to implement the road map peace plan.
Last night, the local Hebron television station broadcast pictures of the terrorist who commited the attack, Raed Abdel-Hamed Mesk. Nevertheless, the local Hamas cell issued a competing claim of responsibility, saying that the attack was Hamas's revenge for the death of one of its Hebron operatives, Abdallah Qawasmeh, two months ago, and that it was carried out now to mark the anniversary of the fire in the Al-Aqsa Mosque - which was started by an Australian Christian in 1969.
The fact that the attack took place even as Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas was meeting in Gaza with representatives of Hamas and Islamic Jihad in an effort to persuade them to extend the cease-fire was an enormous embarrassment for Abbas and his people. Abbas hastened to issue a sharp condemnation of the attack that included condolences to the families of the victims, and ordered his security minister, Mohammed Dahlan, to investigate the incident. Dahlan's spokesman also issued a statement, saying that "even though the Palestinian Authority is not responsible for security in Hebron, we feel frustrated and powerless in the face of this terrible attack."
Some senior Palestinian officials expressed concern last night that the Israel Defense Forces would now tighten the screws on the West Bank. But Palestinian Labor Minister Ghassan al-Khatib said that would be the wrong response. The real problem, he said, was that no one was really in charge of security in Hebron: Though the IDF is officially in control, in practice its control is very partial. Thus instead of increasing the pressure, what Israel should do is immediately transfer security control for the entire West Bank to Dahlan and the Palestinian security services, so that they will be free to act. If the PA received full control over the West Bank, he said, "then it would be possible to level accusations against it if there were attacks."
Khatib's stance appears to enjoy broad support in the Palestinian cabinet - but it is clear to all the ministers that the Israeli government will never agree.
Regarding the attack itself, Palestinian sources took pains to point out that, just as in last week's suicide bombings in Rosh Ha'ayin and Ariel, yesterday's terrorist came from a town where the IDF is raiding and even killing members of the Islamic organizations. In other words, Hamas and Islamic Jihad are trying to create a direct connection between IDF operations and Palestinian retaliations.
"It is inconceivable that Israel should attack us and we should sit quietly," said several Hamas spokesmen, including Abdel Aziz Rantisi of Gaza, last night. Rantisi added that despite everything, the cease-fire remains in place.
Residents of Hebron, asked last night whether they feared a harsh Israeli response to the attack, said that in the seven weeks since the cease-fire was declared, they have not felt any let-up in the Israeli pressure - so they are not terribly interested in whether the cease-fire continues or collapses. "In either case, it's all the same," they said.